


Foolish Pride

by orphan_account



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2000-11-02
Updated: 2000-11-02
Packaged: 2019-05-15 12:25:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14790489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: CJ and Toby reach a breaking point in their relationship, and try to come back from it.





	1. Foolish Pride

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

Disclaimers: The West Wing and it's characters are the property of Aaron Sorkin, Warner Brothers and NBC. No copyright infringement is intended. No profit is being made from this.

Rating: PG

Author's Note: I would like to thank cherryice for her help with this. There will likely be two parts and an epilogue to this.

Summary: CJ and Toby reach a breaking point in their relationship, and try to come back from it.

 

CJ stood looking out the window of her apartment. It was nearly three o'clock in the morning and she couldn't sleep. She couldn't remember the last time she had slept an entire night. Well that wasn't exactly the truth, she could remember, she just didn't like to think about it. She often wondered why this would always happen, but she didn't have the answer to that question. She knew that she wasn't going back to sleep, so she decided to get some work done.

She walked into her living room, and opened up her briefcase. There were a few briefing memos that she still needed to read. So she decided to read them. The first one was a memo on the economic crisis in Asia that had been written by Toby. *Toby*. He was probably not the ideal subject for her to be thinking of right now. She set the papers down and rubbed her temples. She was starting to get a headache so maybe looking at the papers right now was not the wisest thing to do. She stared off into space and let her thoughts wonder.

************************************ Six Weeks Earlier

The last year had been the happiest of CJ's life. She had been so flattered when Toby had asked her out a year ago. They had quickly become inseparable. It had not taken long for everyone to find out they were involved, but they really had not tried to hide it. They had been the number one news story for awhile, but then the press found out that they really were exceedingly boring and left them alone. She glanced over at him as they were driving. They had a weekend off and were going out of town. He would not tell her where they were going because he wanted to surprise her. She had found out early in their relationship that he could be very romantic when he wanted to be, and she wondered what he was up to now. She reached over and placed her hand on his knee.

"So where exactly are you going to take me?" CJ asked.

"I believe I told you that was going to a surprise." Toby replied.

"Yeah you did."

"So what makes you think I'll tell you now?"

"I thought I could try."

"Apparently you are not having any success."

"Apparently not. So what are we going to do this weekend?" She asked.

"You think that if I tell you that, then you will be able to know where we are going."

"I might be able to."

"I'm not going to tell you that."

"I really didn't think you would."

Toby just laughed as he slowed the car down and pulled into the driveway of a small bed and breakfast.

"So this is where we are staying?" CJ asked.

"Yes." Toby said. "You do like it?" He asked uncertainly.

"Yeah, I do." CJ said reaching over and caressing his face. "I love you."

"I love you too." Toby replied.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The room they were in was very spacious. CJ enjoyed just walking around the town taking in all of the sights, and the shops. But what she enjoyed the most was just being with Toby. It was wonderful to be together without all of the worries of the job. They were able to get to know each other much better over those two days. They were sitting in each other's arms on the window seat in their room. Sighing, she leaned back in his arms. Toby leaned over and kissed her neck.

"I don't want to go back." CJ whispered.

"Neither do I." Toby said. "I'm enjoying being here with you too much."

"Yeah." CJ agreed. She turned a little bit until she was facing him. She placed her hands against his face and kissed him.

"I like the way you are thinking." Toby said as he pulled her closer.

"You do?"

"Yeah I do." Toby said as he picked her up.

*******************************************************

Toby was staring morosely out the window of his apartment. He still didn't understand why it had happened. In fact, he thought he never would. Everything had been going well between them, perhaps it had been going too well. He had thought what he had done would make her ecstatically happy. He never dreamed that his actions would cause him to lose her.

*******************************************************

Toby hurried around his apartment seeing that everything was ready. He wanted everything to be perfect for CJ tonight. He believed that he had finally found the person he was to spend the rest of his life with. CJ was the only person who had ever been able to put up with his moods, not even Andie had been able to totally do that. Toby had told CJ months before that he loved her. He had meant the words when he had first said them, and he meant them even more now. He turned as he heard her key in the door. When she came into the apartment he was standing near the door. He walked over to her, and took her into his arms. He started to kiss her passionately as soon as she was in his arms.

"That was quite a greeting." CJ said breathlessly when they drew apart.

"Yes it was." Toby said tracing her lips with his finger. He then pulled her close to him again.

She rested her head on his shoulder for a few moments. Then she lifted her head from his shoulder and smiled at him.

"What?" Toby asked.

"I don't know." CJ said resting her forehead against his. "I love you."

"I love you too." Toby said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After eating dinner they sat on the couch eating dessert and drinking wine. Toby gently ran his fingers through CJ's hair as he held her. He then ran his other hand along her back. She raised her head and kissed him.

"I had an idea earlier." Toby said.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"And what was this idea?"

"I was thinking that you could move in with me." Toby said. He could feel CJ tense up as the words came out of his mouth.

"You want us to live together?" CJ asked in a shocked tone.

"Yeah. I think it would be a good idea. We are together most of the time. And quite frankly I would love to have you here with me all the time."

CJ moved away from him and got up. She walked over to the window and stared out of it for a long time before speaking. "You want me to move in with you?" She repeated.

"Yes."

"I don't think that is such a good idea. In fact I don't think this is such a good idea."

"CJ..."

"No, Toby, we never should have done this. We never should have gotten involved. I'm sorry. I'll get my things and go."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CJ opened the door to her apartment and threw her keys down on the table. "Why do I always do that." CJ said aloud. "Why do I run when someone tries to get close to me. Why did I do that. I love him, and I know that he loves me. Why does the idea of this becoming more serious than it already is scare me?" She sat down at the table and stared at the phone. She wanted to call Toby, but she knew she wouldn't.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Toby was cleaning the table off he found something sitting on the table. It was the key he had given CJ to his apartment. He guessed that was it. It was over, and there was probably nothing he could do to change it. He just wished he knew why.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, CJ went to see Josh. She didn't know why, but knew she needed to talk to someone, and Josh was the most logical choice.

"I thought you and Toby would be spending the day together." Josh said as he opened the door.

"We ended it last night, or rather I ended it." CJ said softly.

"What?" Josh said.

"It's over."

"Why?"

"He asked me to move in with him." CJ said.

"You know that is an excellent reason to break up with someone. I would do exactly the same thing." Josh said sarcastically.

"You're not helping."

"I'm sorry. What happened?"

"I panicked"

"Why?"

"I got scared."

"Why?"

"Josh you sound like a two year old."

"You're not answering the question."

"I always do this. When I get in a serious relationship I panic and leave. I thought I wasn't going to do it this time."

"Do you know why you do it?"

"I guess I'm afraid of committing to anyone."

"CJ you know that Toby loves you?"

"Yeah I know. It doesn't help."

"It's true though."

"You know what the hell of it is Josh?"

"No."

"I'm in love with him too, and I want it to work so badly, but I don't know if I can allow it to."

"You can CJ." Josh reassured her.

"I don't know Josh, I just don't know."

To be continued...

  

  

  

  


	2. Foolish Pride 2

See part 1 for disclaimer.

Author's Note: This is technically the last part, but there will be an epilogue in the near future.

 

The last six weeks had been the longest of both CJ and Toby's respective lives. Everyone noticed how miserable they were, it was impossible not to notice it. They had barely spoken to each other during the six weeks, and no one knew how they were going to handle the upcoming trip to Spain. After watching them, Josh, Leo, Sam, and Mrs. Bartlet decided to get Toby and CJ alone so they could talk about what happened.

On the third night that they were in Spain, there was a dinner party at the Embassy. It was on that night that Josh, Leo, Sam, and Mrs. Bartlet decided to implement their plan.

"CJ." Mrs. Bartlet said

"Yes Ma'am?"

"I've left my purse upstairs. Would you care to go up and get it, please?"

"Not at all." CJ replied.

Across the room Leo was having a similar conversation with Toby, and he left the room at the same time. He reached the elevator as it was starting to close. "Could you please hold the elevator?" He shouted at whomever was in it. CJ held the doors open and Toby walked in. "Thanks." He said as the door shut.

"You're welcome."

"I'm surprised that you did that." Toby remarked.

"Why?"

"Because it causes you to be alone with me for awhile."

"Only as long as we are in the elevator." CJ remarked. As she was speaking, the elevator stopped moving. "What the hell?" She said.

"The elevator has stopped moving." Toby said.

"That's a very astute deduction. I never would have figured it out." CJ said.

"I'm going to call someone." Toby said as he picked up the phone that was in the box. "It's not working." He said holding the phone out.

"What?" CJ asked taking the phone from him. "No it is not."

"Not at all."

"What about your cell phone?"

"In my room. Yours?"

"In my purse, which is downstairs."

"Then I think we are stuck here until someone comes looking."

"Yeah."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nearly an hour had passed, they were still stuck on the elevator. CJ was sitting on the floor on one side of the elevator. Toby was sitting on the other side of it.

"Why were you coming up here?" He asked.

"Mrs. Bartlet wanted me to get her purse."

"Leo wanted me to get his phone from his room."

"Wait you don't think..."

"That they've done this deliberately?"

"Yeah."

"Yes I do."

"Why?"

"So we would talk about what has happened between us." Toby said.

"Okay."

"Why? CJ that's all I want to know, because I really don't understand what happened." Toby asked.

"I don't know if I do either."

"You have to understand it much better than I do. I'm certain you know what the hell you were thinking that night."

"Who says I was thinking."

"Okay."

"Toby..."

"Yeah."

"I got scared."

"Of what?"

"Taking the step that you wanted me to."

"Moving in with me?"

"Yeah." CJ said softly. She couldn't look at him as she was speaking.

"Why?"

"You know that I've never had a long term relationship, right?"

"Yeah."

"I always get afraid. I'll let it go so far and then I freeze up and get scared."

"So that happened when I asked you to move in with me."

"Yeah, I thought that I was over it until then. That it wasn't going to happen with you." CJ said. She was starting to cry as she was speaking.

Toby noticed she was starting to cry and got up and sat down beside her. "Here." He said as he handed her a handkerchief.

"Thanks."

"You thought that it wasn't going to happen?"

"Yeah, I felt safe with you."

"Would you still feel safe if things were like it was before I asked you to move in?"

"Probably."

"We could go back."

"Toby..."

"No let me finish." Toby said as he placed a finger on her mouth. "I won't mention it again, unless you decide you are ready to go that far. The offer is still on the table, but you have to be the one to make the first move."

"Okay. We could try that." CJ said. She looked over at him and smiled.

"I think it will work."

"So do I." CJ said.

Toby tentatively put his arms around her and gently kissed her.

"I know you can do better than that." CJ said and kissed him.

When their kisses grew a little too passionate Toby pulled away. "I think we should put this on hold for a few minutes."

"Until we get out of here?"

"Yeah."

"Okay."

"Are you cold?" Toby asked as he ran his hands along her arms.

"A little." CJ said as Toby took his jacket off and placed it over her shoulders.

"I love you." Toby said.

"I love you too." CJ replied and they started to kiss again.

As they were kissing the elevator started to move.

"Toby, we're moving." CJ said.

"Yeah."

When the doors opened Josh, Sam, Leo and Mrs. Bartlet were standing outside.

"We wondered what had happened to you two." Josh said.

"Like you didn't know." CJ replied.

"What are you talking about?" Leo asked.

"You trapped us in here." Toby said.

"Did it do any good?" Sam asked.

"Yes." CJ and Toby said at the same time.

"Thank God. We don't have to see the two of you miserable anymore." Abbey said.

"I guess you don't need your purse anymore, Mrs. Bartlet?" CJ asked.

"It was downstairs the entire time." Abbey said. "And we should go and leave them alone."

"Hey CJ?" Josh said.

"Yeah."

"Have you worked through it?"

"Not totally." CJ answered as she took Toby's hand in hers. "But I will."

  

  


	3. Epilogue

See part 1 for disclaimer

 

Epilogue-------------------------Six Months Later

Toby and CJ had managed to get their relationship back to where it had been very quickly. They were spending most of their time outside of work together. It was nice to just quietly spend time together.

"Toby." CJ said from just outside of his door.

"Yeah. Come in." He said.

"I'm getting ready to leave."

"Okay, what time is it?"

"A little after six."

"I'm going to finish this speech and then I'm going to leave."

"Okay, I was thinking that I would stay with you tonight?" CJ said.

"You know that is fine with me."

"Okay." CJ said and then kissed his cheek. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah." Toby said. He watched CJ as she left the office. She hadn't mentioned anything about what today was, and he was glad. He didn't want her to fuss over his birthday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was nearly an hour later when Toby finally got to his apartment. It was completely dark when he opened the door. He wondered where CJ was, or what she was up to. He turned one of the lights on, and was shocked by what greeted him.

"Surprise!" He heard CJ, Josh, Sam, and Leo shout.

"What the hell!"

"CJ told us it was your birthday, and she wanted to throw a surprise party for you." Sam said.

"I'm definitely surprised." Toby said drily as he walked into the kitchen. He returned a few minutes later with a beer and sat down on the arm of the chair CJ was sitting in. "I thought I told you I didn't want a fuss over my birthday."

"You tell me a lot of things, the vast majority of which I never listen to." CJ replied.

"What made you think that was something you shouldn't listen to?"

"I don't know." CJ said looking up at him and smiling.

He leaned down and kissed her. "So what exactly did you plan for us to eat at this little party?"

"Ginger called just after you left and we ordered a couple of pizzas." Josh replied. "They should be here any moment."

"Okay."

Josh went to the door when the pizza came. "Okay we have one pepperoni one and one with everything but sausage." He said as he sat the pizzas down on the table.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After shutting the door behind Josh and Sam, CJ turned back to Toby.

"I was beginning to think that they were never going to leave." Toby said as he put his arms around her.

"You wouldn't want to be alone with me or something would you?" She teased.

"Being alone with you. Now that's the best idea you've had all evening." Toby said.

"Really, and I thought you enjoyed the dinner party."

"What made you think that?"

"You weren't acting like you totally hated it."

"You're right."

"Oh, I know I am."

"So did you get me anything for my birthday?"

"Now why would I do that? You told me that you didn't want me to fuss over your birthday."

"You already told me that you didn't listen to that."

"Well I listened to some of it. I thought a dinner party would not be a fuss."

"But a present would be?"

"Yes." She laughed.

"Okay, I don't understand your reasoning with that, but okay."

"I don't think I'm going to be able to keep this up." CJ laughed.

"Ah, so you did get me something?"

"Maybe."

"What?"

"What makes you think I'll tell you so easily?"

"I don't know."

"Me either." CJ said. "The lease on my apartment is almost up."

"What?"

"The lease on my apartment is almost up." CJ repeated.

"What are you saying?"

"I seem to remember you telling me that a certain offer was still on the table, but I would have to be the one to mention it."

"Yeah."

"I'm mentioning it to you now."

"Okay."

"If the offer is still on the table, I'd like to take you up on it."

"You would?"

"Yes."

"It's still on the table."

"Okay."

"So will you move in with me?" Toby asked.

"Yes." CJ answered and as soon as the word was out of her mouth, Toby kissed her.

"You're certain of this?" He asked.

"Yes, I wouldn't have mentioned it if I wasn't."

"Okay, I just wanted to make sure..." Toby said.

"It's okay, I'm fine with it. I want to live with you." CJ said and kissed him.

As they were kissing, Toby laid back against the couch pulling her with him. "You know that we are completely alone now?"

"I certainly hope so." CJ laughed.

"I'm thinking that we should make the most of that."

CJ just laughed a little in response. Toby reached up and traced her lips with his thumb. "I love you." He whispered just before pulling her down for another kiss.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Toby watched CJ as she was sleeping later that night. He felt that they were completely back to where they had been before everything happened. He tightened his arms around her, kissed her, and then fell asleep.

The end.


End file.
